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This page was last updated: 24th June 2020
Information and resources for frontline professionals working with children during the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis
Child and adolescent therapists/play therapists
Play therapist Garry Landreth explains that the coronavirus crisis does not change the importance of the therapeutic relationship in children’s lives: Provide emotional support to your play therapy clients through parent-child special play time.
A beginner’s guide to adding online support to your young people’s mental health and wellbeing service
A beginner’s guide to adding online support to your young people’s mental health and wellbeing service
Children and family social workers
Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance for local authorities on children’s social care. This guidance is for local authorities, those who have corporate parenting responsibilities, and local safeguarding partnerships who work together to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children in their area. It will also be of interest to social workers, residential care providers and staff, and those with safeguarding responsibilities.
This guidance has been developed by the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) in consultation with practitioners, managers, academics and sector leaders to help social workers and their employers manage children and families social work during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Social workers have an important role to play in keeping children safe, particularly during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The NSPCC has pulled together key guidance from all four UK nations to answer some frequently asked questions.
The purpose of this document is to to support practitioners and managers in thinking about ethical, practical and professional aspects and implications of video call/contact and virtual/online home visits. It is aimed at social work and social care practitioners and managers as well as qualifying social work students.
The impact of COVID-19 on services has put significant strain on practitioners and many services are working at reduced capacity and therefore, find themselves having to prioritise risks, needs and services. The PCFSW COVID-19 Ethical Response and Best Practice Guide For Children and Families Services. This guide offers evidence-based support for practitioners and managers to help continuity of services and should be considered alongside the local authority’s guidance to ensure continued support and safeguarding of vulnerable children and young people and their families and carers.
Social workers have an important role to play in keeping children safe, particularly during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The NSPCC has pulled together key guidance from all four UK nations to answer some frequently asked questions.
NHS services have been issued with coronavirus prioritisation instructions. This alters how they will be working over the coming months. They are prioritising certain aspects of clinical care and have stopped providing other services. CoramBAAF have itemised the NHS Community Health Services that are most likely to host LAC health professionals/services, and principles and guidance are based on the need to take account of NHS prioritisation instructions, and adhere to public health safety guidelines, but at the same time maintain a clear focus on safeguarding children in a period when there will be different and potentially increased risks to children and young people. Moving children safely into adoptive placements at the moment should be seen as a priority where there are approved adopters and matching is already in progress. This needs to be on a case-by-case basis. These notes were shared with representatives from NHS England safeguarding team and RCPCH prior to publication.
This paper, from the House of Commons Library, provides brief information in response to some key questions regarding the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on separated families, maintenance arrangements and access to children, including those who are in care.
Pears Family School is an Alternative Provision specialist school run by The Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families. In line with DfE guidance the school will remain open during this crisis. The school provides information on what this looks like on the ground.
This briefing from the NSPCC summarises the latest guidance for social workers and social work practitioners during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Occupational therapists are experts in helping others to maintain health and wellbeing, but sometimes it’s easier to advise than to practice what you preach. Now, during this COVID-19 crisis, you need more than ever to look after yourselves to ensure that you can keep helping the people you support.
This briefing from the University of Birmingham's Department of Social Work and Social Care shares some emerging findings about the challenges of achieving social distancing during child protection work, especially on home visits, and how children and families and social workers can be kept safe from COVID-19.
This briefing from the University of Birmingham's Department of Social Work and Social Care shares sldren’s social care to improvise in creative ways that, if sustained postpandemic, could renew practice and provide improved outcomes for children and families.
This briefing from the University of Birmingham's Department of Social Work and Social Care shares examines emerging findings showing where and how digital social work practices have played a useful role in child protection work during the COVID-19 pandemic. We explore challenges encountered in the use of digital technologies. We also highlight circumstances in which newly emerging hybrid digital-physical practices help keep children safe or offer additional benefits for social workers and the families they support.
Research finds that practitioners have taken risks to support children and families, and need to trust digital tools more, say Harry Ferguson, Sarah Pink and Laura Kelly in an article for Community Care.
This briefing from the NSPCC summarises the latest guidance for social workers and social work practitioners during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
This practice briefing aims to support practitioners and managers when planning home visits and face-to-face interventions during the Covid-19 crisis. The briefing highlights the complexity of child protection practice during an emergency such as the current Covid-19 pandemic. It also reinforces the need to balance rigorous assessment of risk, with the need to support families and carers and keep the safeguarding of children central to decision making.
Youth workers
UK Youth and the National Youth Agency are working together to provide some information and support to youth workers, volunteers and young people during the current situation caused by COVID-19. They have been gathering information, concerns and questions in the last few weeks and will continue to update this resource as the situation develops.
A beginner’s guide to adding online support to your young people’s mental health and wellbeing service